Ex-Lincoln College wrestler cast on UFC reality show

At first, former Lincoln College wrestler and wrestling coach Corey Anderson was reluctant to audition for a reality television show about mixed martial arts fighters.

“It was kind of weird — I saw the ad and I didn’t pay attention. My coach thought I was the best personality to be on the show,” he said.

Anderson said he told his coach: “No — I have to work in the morning.” But it was an opportunity his coach told him he had to take — so he did.

Even though he has relatively little professional MMA fighting experience, Anderson not only made the cut, but he’ll be featured on the new season of “The Ultimate Fighter” that debuts Wednesday at 9 p.m. on cable television’s Fox Sports 1 (Comcast channel 68).

The show pits mixed martial arts athletes, who combine wrestling, boxing, kickboxing and other forms of hand-to-hand combat, in a competition while living in the “Tough House.” One fighter will win a contract with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

“At tryouts, I did an interview, grappling, and striking. I was tired but I knew I shined pretty well and felt like I was the best striker in the room,” Anderson said.

Anderson is undefeated in three professional matches. However, he has the shortest professional career of the 32 athletes who advanced to the preliminary bouts.

That doesn’t mean he’s not a competitor. A farm boy from Rockton (north of Rockford), he was the first member of his family to earn a college degree — an associate degree from Lincoln College, and then a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he won individual and team conference wrestling championships.

Anderson said he didn’t come from a competitive athletic background, but he knew from watching his parents build a roofing business that he could do just about anything.

“I was always working hard … and to be in some kind of sport (because) it all starts now. You have to be the best at everything you do,” he said.

‘Anxious and ready to go’

Steven Bradley, head wrestling coach at Lincoln College, said Anderson worked hard while competing and later coaching wrestling at the two-year school.

“When I first started coaching Corey, he worked really hard to fix his deficiencies,” Bradley said. “He’ll work out two or three times a day. I don’t think I’ve seen anybody who work(s) quite like that. His father preached that to him — and I reinforced it as his coach.”

After graduating from Wisconsin-Whitewater, Anderson returned to LC to work for Bradley as an assistant wresting coach. He also put in hours as a supervisor in the college weight room and at a trucking company.

Driven to compete, Corey made time to work out at the Kennel Fight Club, a mixed martial arts (MMA) gym in Springfield where, according to Bradley, Corey added boxing, jujitsu and Muay Thai (Thai boxing) to his wrestling skills.

With the first episode (a two-hour premiere) airing Wednesday, Anderson (in typical reality show fashion — they don’t want to spoil the ending) can’t say much about his experience after the preliminary bouts, except that it was exciting.

“I (was) kind of nervous and kind of excited,” he said. “My coach told me to do what I went out there to do … control what I do and hopefully … I was anxious and ready to go.”

With fans at home in Rockton, Lincoln and the Springfield area who don’t know the outcome, hopes are high that Anderson will go all the way to winning the No. 1 spot on the show at the final competition July 6 in Las Vegas. Even if he is eliminated early, the competitors remain in the Tough House to train with professional coaches until the finale, so he should get additional screen time.

For now, Anderson is traveling around the country to train at a variety of gyms while the show airs. He plans to take a short break to return to Rockton, where he’ll watch the premiere with “all the people that were behind me from high school to my Las Vegas training,” he said.

Coach Bradley will be watching too.

“I think that Corey is a great example of dreams and goals. If you work hard enough, anything is possible,” he said.